[Forwarded message:]
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 11:51:40 -0400
From: "Chris Gillett" <CGillett@senate.michigan.gov>
Subject: Senate Tech & Energy Committee
We will likely be looking at a resolution much like the one attached
at this Wednesday's committee hearing.
It will be submitted for introduction tomorrow, and then officially
introduced on Wednesday.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts or concerns with this
resolution.
Thank you!
Mr. Chris Gillett
Legislative Director
Senator Bruce Patterson
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing MI 48909
517-373-7350
517-373-0753 (direct)
1-866-262-7307
517-373-9228 (fax)
517-281-8431 (cell)
[Text of attached resolution follows:]
***Draft1***
Senator Patterson offered the following concurrent resolution:
Senate Concurrent Resolution No.
A concurrent resolution to urge the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to use its authority post haste to require
that VOIP service providers make enhanced 9-1-1 emergency
services available to all customers.
Whereas, Access to enhanced 9-1-1 emergency services is vital
to the health and safety of Michigan's citizens. Enhanced
9-1-1 emergency services route 9-1-1 calls to the designated
dispatch center for the caller's location, provide the
caller's name, call back number, and location, even when the
caller cannot speak; and
Whereas, The public has an expectation that by dialing 9-1-1
they will immediately reach a trained responder who can
provide emergency assistance, regardless of the type of phone
service and whether it operates on the public switched
telephone network, wireless networks, or the Internet; and
Whereas, Many VOIP service providers offer a very limited
level of 9-1-1 service or they offer no 9-1-1 service at
all. Additionally, there is a very real likelihood that a
9-1-1 call from a VOIP telephone will be lost, delayed, or
misrouted; and Whereas Significant growth in the use and
availability of VOIP telephony services, which may be
indistinguishable from traditional public switched telephone
services, is expected in the near future. More than four
hundred vendors are now selling VOIP; and Whereas, The FCC has
declared that a certain type of VOIP service is not subject to
traditional state public utility regulation. The FCC nullified
a state attempt to require a VOIP service provider to offer
emergency 9-1-1 service comparable to that provided by
incumbent phone companies. The FCC makes clear that it, and
not state commissions, has the responsibility and obligation
to decide whether certain regulations, including enhanced
9-1-1 rules, apply to Internet Protocol-enabled services like
VOIP. Recognizing that the FCC has the power to preempt state
regulations that thwart or impede federal authority over
interstate communications; now, therefore, be it Resolved, by
the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that we
urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use its
authority post haste to require that VOIP service providers
make enhanced 9-1-1 emergency services available to all
customers; and be it further Resolved, that copies of this
resolution be transmitted to the Federal Communications
Commission. R 0186'05
How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home:
http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html
If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/
Jack Decker (jack-yahoogroups@withheld_on_request)